Forever Young
by Mutant of Time
Summary: Dave and Karkat had always joked around, saying that Karkat was going to grow old, and Dave would stay forever young, because he was God Tier. It was a joke. Just a joke. Until it wasn't. Sadstuck, DaveKat, character death, all that shit. Rated T for language and violence. Offshoot timeline where they get randomly attacked on the meteor.


**Yet another fic written for my moirail. I feel successful though because I got her to officially ship DaveKat! :D Anyways, sorry for the sadstuck, but that's the whole point of this. **

**Disclaimer: Homestuck and the characters belong to Andrew Hussie, not me.**

* * *

"Yep, I'm just your average Strider, always hot and rarin' to go," Dave boasted to Karkat, a smug smirk on his face.

"Always? You won't stay hot and young forever, Strider," Karkat told him.

"Well seeing as I can't age, it looks like I will be," Dave replied. He then chuckled at the mental image his mind provided him for his next statement. "You're gonna be all old and wrinkly and I'm still gonna be young and good lookin'."

Karkat blushed and scowled. "Shut up."

All of this was true. They were still on the meteor, Dave was still God Tier, Karkat was not. Karkat would grow old and age, and eventually...well, his time would come. Now, they didn't know what would happen to those who had reached God Tier, but perhaps they would stay immortal even after the game. If not, they too, would age, but Dave always found it more amusing to have the running joke. He would always tease Karkat about it, but there was a reason for it. If he teased about it, it put the topic into a more light-hearted manner. Dave didn't like to think about it seriously. There were reasons for that too. Karkat was his matesprit, and his best friend, and he didn't want to see him die.

"Yeah yeah...but seriously I don't know how I'm gonna feel when there's an old man mackin' on me. 'Ts kinda weird man," Dave commented.

"Shut up! Trolls age differently than humans anyways. We don't turn into wrinkly sacks of shit, we just stop growing and changing at one point and then-"

"Yeah I really don't care. Let's discuss this later when I don't have better things to do."

"Yeah, like you have better things to do right now..."

"I do!" Dave insisted. "Things like..." Dave trailed off and pulled Karkat into his arms, kissing him. Karkat of course reciprocated until Dave pulled away. "This," Dave finished his sentence. Karkat simply rolled his eyes.

Dave sat down on the nearby couch, pulling Karkat with him and into his lap, where sloppy makeouts ensued. Well, sloppy makeouts ensued until they were interrupted by a loud _thump!_ and violent shaking of the meteor. Karkat quickly jumped off of Dave.

"What was that?" he asked, looking around with a panicked look in his eyes. Even Dave couldn't say he was completely calm. The noise had startled him, and his heart was beating fast. He stood up too, looking around. Trying to keep his balance on the still shaking meteor.

"I dunno, let's go check the roof," he suggested, and the two of them were off. They met up with Kanaya, and a drunken Rose in the hallway.

"Do you know where that awful sound came from?" Kanaya inquired, Rose hanging off her shoulder.

"I don't know, but we're going to the roof," Karkat answered. "Take the Rose human somewhere safe, she shouldn't be up there in her condition,' Karkat said, showing a rare display of concern. Kanaya nodded at him.

"I'll leave her with the Mayor, then I'll find Terezi and we will try to join the two of you."

"Sounds cool. Don't take too long," Dave said, and the two groups departed from each other. After walking for awhile, and nearing the roof, Dave spoke to Karkat.

"I'd suggest you take out your weapons, just in case," he said, drawing his own shitty sword. Karkat nodded, and his sickles were out in a flash. The two cautiously ascended the stairs to the roof, and Dave opened the door. Almost immediately, he was attacked. He was able to block with his sword, but the momentum threw him into the air, and he landed, skidding across the asphalt of the roof on his back. That was going to hurt later.

Dave was quick to his feet though, and charged towards his attacker from the front. Karkat noticed this, this routine of Dave's, and knew that it was a passive aggressive way of telling him to take on their usual strifing technique, but this time against their opponent. Karkat approached from behind, carefully but quick, as he would usually do in a strife between himself and Dave. He guessed all those training sessions with the human were finally going to pay off.

Dave thrust his sword forward, but the enemy was faster, and the blade barely grazed his arm. Karkat fared a little better, and was able to get a few good swipes in from behind. Then, the creature, whatever it was, turned towards him, and he was able to get a good look at it.

Well, it certainly wasn't Jack, nor was it Lord English. It actually looked like one of the lands' denizens, but much stronger. It swung forward with a mace ball, and Karkat almost didn't move out of the way fast enough. He needed to stop ogling the thing. He swung his sickles, side-eyeing Dave who had jumped right above the denizen-like creature. He brought his blade down on the head, but it barely did anything to the enemy, other than anger it. It was kind of stupid though, continuously turning it's back on either Dave or Karkat.

Dave was thrown out of the way again, but the mace ball had hit him, spikes digging into his side. He couldn't help but cry out in pain, but at least the gashes weren't too deep. His shades were knocked off though, and he shot Karkat a panicked look. Karkat jumped out of his stupor and ran forward, attacking the thing with a slightly different technique. Left fake, right fake, right swipe, two left swipes, right swipe. That's all he was able to get in before was swung at too. He crossed his sickles together in front of him, bracing his arms. He was able to deflect the attack this way, but there was still sheer force behind him, and it made him lose his balance.

Dave's God Tier abilities were beginning to heal his skin, but not as fast as he would've liked. That aside, he could bear the pain and still fight, so he ran again, using almost the same technique as before, but instead of hitting the denizen on the head, he swung his blade down, and then up, slashing through his back.

The creature jerked away from Karkat, letting out it's own cry of pain, and turning to Dave. Dave swung again right away, effectively cutting it's face too, and he made another swing to disarm it, but was not able to do so. He missed completely as the creature turn, having seen a flying Karkat through his peripheral vision, and he swung his weapon at the troll. Karkat wasn't as lucky as Dave, and the spikes embedded into his torso, and sent him flying across the roof of the meteor. Tears came to his eyes, but he refused to make any sound of pain. He was damn lucky trolls had a strong rib cage, which prevented any internal organs from bursting, but he was sure he had fractured, if not broken, several of his ribs. Candy red blood spilled, and Dave snarled with anger, throwing himself at their enemy again. He was knocked out of the way, and the denizen started towards Karkat again. Dave of course, wasn't going to let him do that, and was faster, flashstepping in front of him before the enemy neared.

"Dave!" Karkat cried out. "Don't protect me! If you die, then-"

"Then I guess I die! Stay out of the way!" Dave shouted back at him, running forward and attacking the approaching enemy once again. He dug his sword deep into the wrist of the denizen-creature that was holding the weapon, but apparently this guy was ambidextrous, because he simply switched hands with his weapon, and swung at Dave again, who barely dodged.

Karkat, meanwhile, coughed up some blood as he forced himself to his feet. He wasn't going down without a fight, no. He wasn't going down, period. He tightened his grip on his sickles, and was quick to Dave's side. Dave gave him a bewildered look.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm not as weak as you think, Dave. I can fight, too! I can withstand a lot more than your fleshy meat sack," Karkat told Dave as they shifted into a newer, more recently developed strifing technique. They hadn't used this against each other, no. They practiced this together specifically for fighting enemies.

"Whatever," Dave said. You could tell he was upset, he didn't want Karkat to get hurt anymore, but he had no choice. He couldn't exactly fight this guy on his own anyways. So he let Karkat fight with him, and they were like two people morphed into one with this technique. They always knew what the other was doing, and not the enemy, which was an advantage. They moved like one body, one constantly attacking the denizen while the other blocked or tried to disarm him. Dave was attacking while Karkat blocked, and the enemy pulled a sick move, one that the troll and human combo didn't know he had. Well, a better way to put it was one they hadn't been anticipating. The denizen was about to attack Karkat, but turned and attacked Dave instead, throwing him once again across the roof before turning and knocking Karkat off his feet with his fist.

It was slow motion now, and Dave couldn't move fast enough. Karkat was about to scramble to his feet, but the bloody mace ball was brought down upon him. A sound, the worst sound, the most pitiful, the most pain-filled sound ever filled Dave's ears as Karkat cried out. More of the candy red blood spilled everywhere, and the enemy pulled his weapon back up out of Karkat, only to hit him again. You could hear bones breaking, you could hear the terrifying _snap!_ of Karkat's ribs. Karkat screamed out.

"Dave!" Dave was filled with panic, and he couldn't breathe, but he forced himself to move. The enemy was about to his weapon down again, but Dave ran, faster than ever, flashstepping until he was able to jump, latching himself onto the weapon and swinging it out of Karkat's way with his own body's momentum. Pain filled him and the spikes dug into his own body, but he would heal. He spared a glance at Karkat, who was slipping into unconsciousness, and had to hope he'd be okay while Dave finished off the enemy. Rage, adrenaline filled him, rushing through his veins, and he attacked relentlessly, swinging again and again and again, never giving the enemy a chance to block, nor attack. He managed to disarm him, _finally,_ and was continuously stabbing with his sword, over and over and over as tears spilled from his eyes.

He gave one last final stab, thrusting his sword through the chest of his fallen enemy. He heaved, his body begging for a rest, for a breath, and that's what it finally got. He heard the roof door open, minutes too late, and he didn't bother to turn towards what he assumed was Kanaya and Terezi. He instead slowly walked over to Karkat, knowing the fate of the troll without having to see. He had heard the way the trolls' ribs crunched, without a doubt puncturing inside organs. But he needed to see anyways. He couldn't give up hope.

He dropped to his knees in front of the troll, taking the guy into his arms.

"I love you," he whispered. He pressed his ear to Karkat's chest, and somehow, the mangled heart was still beating. Karkat was still holding on, but through pain, most definitely.

He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, but as Dave pulled away, Karkat's eyes were on him. Tears flooded there, mirroring Dave's own, and Karkat opened his mouth to speak, though no words came out. His body spasmed, and he coughed up blood. He looked at Dave with the most pitiful look in existence. Slowly, his arm moved, his hand snaking through his own blood, seemingly on purpose, and to the ground next to him where there was less blood. Karkat concentrated hard as he moved his hand, writing something in strange symbols on the asphalt. He then looked at Dave, mouthing the words he wrote, and he dropped his arm.

"Karkat no please don't go, don't leave me here alone. It was a joke, it was always a joke, I don't want to live forever, not without you. I can't, I won't," Dave rambled as he hugged Karkat again, pulling him close. It was the only thing he could do as the troll slowly slipped away.

Dave felt a wet hand on his face, and didn't have to look to know it was Karkat's. It tapped his cheek lightly, and he heard a subtle _shhhhh_ in his ear.

Two figures were now by his side. They held Dave, they held Karkat, they held on to anything they could. All three of them surrounded Karkat as he slipped away, giving the troll as much comfort as they could provide through all this pain.

Kanaya sniffled, but managed a few soft words. "We'll see you in the dream bubbles, Karkat."

Dave gave a choked sob, holding Karkat tighter, but hopefully not causing more pain. He felt as Karkat's heart stopped, he felt as the troll went limp in his arms. He didn't know how long the group of them sat there, but it was long enough for Rose to find them, much sobered up.

She silently joined them, kneeling beside them. Dave pulled away slightly, pressing a kiss to the deceased troll's forehead before pulling himself away. He fled the scene, not being able to do anything else. He couldn't bear the pain of it all.

* * *

Days later, Dave returned to the roof, with Terezi. The bodies, and almost all traces of blood were gone. Only one was left. Dave approached this spot.

"What does it say?" he asked Terezi. She looked at him, yes_, __looked_, as she had gained her sight back. She took a glance at the Alternian words written in Karkat's own blood, and then looked back at Dave.

"I love you," she said. She gave Dave a half hearted pat on the shoulder before leaving, leaving him there alone. He once again sank to his knees, in front of the blood. Tears streamed down his cheeks again. His voice cracked as he spoke, so quiet, barely audible.

"I love you too."


End file.
